He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ¹  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ² 

If grape pickers came to pick your grapes, would they not leave a few grapes behind? ¹  If robbers came at night, would they not pillage only what they needed? ² 

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten – two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel.

This is what will happen throughout ¹  the earth, among the nations. It will be like when they beat an olive tree, and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. ² 

I am depressed! ¹  Indeed, ²  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. ³  There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁴ 

“If thieves came to rob you ¹  during the night, ²  they would steal only as much as they wanted! ³  If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, ⁴  they would leave some behind for the poor! ⁵  But you will be totally destroyed! ⁶